SALINAS, CA (October 2016)—The Diabetes Education Center (DEC) at Natividad Medical Center will celebrate American Diabetes Association’s Diabetes Awareness Month and World Diabetes Day on Monday, November 14th, themed this year as “Eyes on Diabetes”.
There will be an information booth inside of the main lobby of building 500 (Main Hospital), where anyone can visit and pick up diabetes information, including a risk-assessment tool which Diabetes Education Center staff can help score.
· Tuesday, November 14th World Diabetes Day and November is American Diabetes Association’s Diabetes Awareness Month
· Natividad Medical Center Main Lobby (Building 500), 1441 Constitution Boulevard, Salinas
· 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
· The direct line for the Diabetes Education Center is 831-755-6292
· NOTE: There will be no diabetes testing on this date

Diabetes education is a collaborative process through which people with or at risk for diabetes gain the knowledge and skills needed to modify behavior and successfully self-manage the disease and its related conditions. Services are provided by diabetes educators.

The Facts on Diabetes:

Monterey County Adults:
· 12.3% with diabetes (compare: 8.9% for CA)
· 15.8% of Latino Monterey County adults with diabetes (compare: 10.0% for CA)
(Source: CA Health Interview Survey, UCLA, 2014 data, released August, 2015)
· 45% with pre-diabetes (Source: CA Health Interview Survey, UCLA, March, 2016)

At Natividad Medical Center:
· Approximately 30% of our inpatients at any given time have diabetes.
· Approximately 12-15% of the women hospitalized to deliver babies have gestational diabetes; these women are at high risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes after their deliveries.

The Diabetes Education Center at Natividad Medical Center:
· 603 unique patients/1,475 total patient visits for the period of 6/1/15 – 5/31/16.
· Quality: Have seen a 14.4% decrease in Hemoglobin A1c for patients who completed our program during the period 6/1/15 – 5/31/16.
· Awareness/education activities: Held annual American Diabetes Month/World Diabetes Day event November 3, 2015 and Diabetes Alert Day event March 22, 2016.

Prevention:
Recognizing the need to continue to focus on the prevention of diabetes in the at-risk population the hospital serves, the Natividad Medical Foundation sought and received in the summer of 2015 a renewal of its successful “Impact” grant from the Community Foundation for Monterey County’s Dr. George and Sam Kih Thorngate Family Fund and Dr. Frank Pye Smith Medical Facilities Fund. The grant has funded a fourth year of community-based series of classes, “5 Steps to Prevent Diabetes/5 Pasos Para Prevenir la Diabetes”. Year 4’s classes have been held at sites throughout Monterey County from October, 2015 through June, 2016. To date, “5 Steps” has reached over 500 participants with evidence-based, practical, diabetes prevention education, with an emphasis on nutrition and physical activity. With the “5 Steps” program consistently yielding highly positive results in the areas of increased consumption of fruits and vegetables and increased physical activity among its participants, the Community Foundation recently awarded Natividad Medical Foundation an unprecedented fifth year of funding to continue this important prevention project.

Background on Natividad Medical Center (NMC)
Owned and operated by Monterey County, NMC is a 172-bed, acute-care hospital providing health care services to county residents for more than 131 years. Based in Salinas, California, NMC offers inpatient, outpatient, emergency, diagnostic and specialty medical care. NMC provides more than 38,000 patient days of care each year and has more than 52,000 emergency department visits per year. NMC is a Level II Trauma Center providing the immediate availability of specialized personnel, equipment and services to treat the most severe and critical injuries. NMC’s Trauma Center is a vital community service locally that saves lives and eliminates the need to fly critically injured patients to a distant trauma center. NMC is ranked No. 1 in newborn deliveries in Monterey County and is the only teaching hospital on the Central Coast through its affiliation with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). With a medical staff of more than 300 physicians, NMC’s mission is to continually monitor and improve the health of the people, including the vulnerable, in Monterey County through coordinated, affordable high-quality health care. For more information, please call 831-755-4111 or visit www.natividad.com.